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This Summer Chicken Salad with Hot Bacon Dressing is the perfect quick and easy dinner salad for any night of the week. Grilled chicken tossed with a tangy bacon-herb dressing, greens, grilled chicken, peppers, corn, tomatoes, creamy avocado, and crumbled cheese! It’s colorful and so delicious. Enjoy this for dinner and save the leftovers for lunch – it’s always good. Or serve this up at your next backyard dinner with friends.
With the start of summer 2022 just days away I’m in full-on summer cooking mode and really loving the recipes I’m working on! And this salad is a real highlight. So many yummy flavors, textures, and colors in this quick-to-make dinner salad.
My motto this summer is super flavorful dinners that have a lot happening, but don’t require too much time in the kitchen or too much cooking. It’s kind of a tricky recipe formula to figure out. But for the recipes where I’m able to get it right, it’s perfection!
I’m excited to share that I hit my mark.
Growing up, summertime dinner salads were on a weekly rotation at our house. My dad would do big pasta salads or salads filled with the leftovers in the fridge.
This salad is loosely inspired by dad’s summer salads – just taken up a notch!
Here are the details
To start, this recipe requires pre-cooked chicken, peppers, and corn. The idea is that you already have the leftovers in the fridge. If you’re like my family, we always have some grilled or roasted chicken on hand. And I have roasted peppers in the pantry!
Of course, if you need to grill up chicken the day of, I’m giving you my recipe for herb grilled chicken in the notes. It’s my go-to grilled chicken. Simple, but great tossed up in salads. Just a mix of olive oil, grainy dijon, balsamic vinegar, herbs, and garlic.
When you have all the salad ingredients together, make the dressing. The dressing really is the heart of this salad. Crisp up some bacon, then toss it with olive oil, vinegar, shallots, garlic, thyme, and the secret – a small number of fig preserves. The preserves add a touch of sweetness that compliments the salty bacon.
Next, the croutons. A last-minute addition on my end, but one that’s so delicious! The torn ciabatta bread gets crisped up in the bacon grease, then tossed with garlic and sea salt. They add a crunch to every bite and are totally addicting.
Now, assemble everything. The salad base is mixed greens and or romaine. Whatever you prefer. I use mixed greens – spinach, arugula, spring mix, and romaine are all good for a balance of flavor and crunch. Then, grilled chicken, peppers, corn, sweet cherry tomatoes, and creamy avocado.
The final layer is the cheese. I LOVE to use crumbled blue cheese, but I know this isn’t for everyone. You can certainly use feta, goat cheese, or cubes of cheddar, all would be delicious.
Everything together is SO GOOD! Grilled chicken, crunchy garlic croutons, salty bacon, creamy avocado, and a savory, tangy dressing that really completes the salad and makes every bite special.
Looking for other summer salad recipes? Here are a few ideas:
Corn, Tomato, and Avocado Pasta Salad
Pesto Chicken Caesar Salad with Tomatoes and Burrata
Honey Mustard Pretzel Chicken and Avocado Bacon Salad
Marinated Tomato Feta Orzo Salad Jars
Pesto Chicken and Avocado Bacon Salad Wraps
Lastly, if you make this Summer Chicken Salad with Hot Bacon Dressing, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Summer Chicken Salad with Hot Bacon Dressing
Servings: 6
Calories Per Serving: 550 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
Dressing
- 6 thick-cut slices of bacon, chopped
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 shallot, thinly sliced
- 1-2 cloves garlic, grated
- 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon fig preserves
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
- chili flakes
- kosher salt and pepper
Salad
- 1 cup torn ciabatta bread
- 1 clove garlic, grated
- 6 cups mixed salad greens
- 2 cups grilled chicken, cubed or shredded
- 1-2 roasted/grilled bell peppers, sliced
- 3 ears grilled corn, kernels removed from the cob
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 avocado, sliced
- 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese or feta cheese
Instructions
- 1. To make the dressing. Combine all ingredients except the bacon in a glass jar and whisk until smooth. 2. Cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until crisp. Drain onto a paper towel. Stir the bacon into the dressing. 3. To make the croutons. Heat the same skillet used to cook the bacon over medium heat. Add the bread and toss in the bacon grease. If needed add 1-2 tablespoons olive oil. Cook until toasted, 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic, then remove from the heat and season with salt. 4. To assemble the salad. In a large salad bowl, combine the greens, chicken, peppers, corn, tomatoes, avocado, cheese, and croutons. Toss well with the dressing. Enjoy!
Notes
Herb Grilled Chicken: In a large bowl, toss 1 pound of chicken tenders with 3 tablespoons olive oil, 3 tablespoons grainy dijon mustard, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, 1/3 cup chopped fresh herbs, kosher salt and black pepper. Set your grill, grill pan, or skillet to medium-high heat. Grill the chicken until lightly charred and cooked through, turning halfway through cooking, about 10 to 12 minutes.
I made this last Christmas and will do again! I chopped everything ahead, made the dressing, grilled the corn, made the croutons etc and took it to our Airbnb to have with family.
Had this with pork tenderloin cooked fresh at the time.
Hey Jane,
Wonderful! Thank you so much for making this recipe and your comment! So glad to hear it was enjoyed! Happy Sunday! xx
What could be substituted for the fig preserves ?
Hi Lucy,
You can use honey in place of the fig preserves. Please let me know if you have any other questions! xT
Delish! The dressing is just lovely
Hey Shannon,
Awesome! Thanks so much for trying this salad and your comment! Love to hear that it was enjoyed! Have a great weekend! xT
Would you use the chicken marinade from your Caprese Chicken Pasta with this salad and salad dressing?
Hi Deanna,
Sure, that would work nicely for you! Let me know how this recipe turns out, I hope you love it! xT
So yummy! I forgot to add the cheese and it was still great. I did replace some of the olive oil with bacon drippings for the dressing, and served the bacon itself on top of the salad instead of in the dressing. No soggy bacon here! There’s enough left for lunch tomorrow, and I’m already looking forward to it.
Hey Sheri,
Happy Monday!! Love to hear that this recipe turned out nicely for you. Thanks for making it and your comment! Xx
My husband & I loved this salad!! The hot bacon dressing was divine & grilled corn on salads is one of my new favorite things now! So yummy! Thanks for the creative take on a summer salad!
Hey Ashlee,
Wonderful! Thanks so much for your comment, love to hear that this recipe turned out nicely for you, I appreciate you giving it a try! x
So delicious! I was a little drive thru Sue tonight and used rotisserie chicken, jarred roasted bell peppers and frozen (cooked) roasted corn. Came together very quickly this way and was so delicious. Next time I’ll just add the bacon as a topping and thin out the dressing a little but flavors are on point and I’ll be making this one again!
Hey Barbie,
Wonderful!! So glad to hear that this recipe turned out well for you, thanks a lot for making it! Xx
What mix of fresh herbs do you use for your grilled chicken?
Hey Joy,
It really just depends what I have on hand….but I love using basil, parsley, dill, chives, and cilantro. I hope this helps! xT
We adore this salad!! I’ve made it multiple times. Making it again tomorrow and thought I really should leave a review!! I never bothered with the croutons honestly, but that’s just me. I’m sure it’s even better with the croutons, but the salad has so much to offer even without croutons that I did not miss them. 🤷🏻♀️
It’s SO good. Thanks for all the amazing recipes Tieghan!